Balancing the Right to be Forgotten and Freedom of Expression in the Digital Era

Sameida, Ahmad

doi:10.21608/ijdjl.2025.375406.1277

Balancing the Right to be Forgotten and Freedom of Expression in the Digital Era

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ahmad Sameida

Faculty of Law, Beni-suef University

10.21608/ijdjl.2025.375406.1277

Abstract

The dynamic development of digital and informational technologies raises the issue of proper and effective protection of human privacy, which, in turn, is gradually turning from a real fundamental right into a kind of illusion. Just a piece of information about an individual distributed on the Internet may leave its negative and often indelible mark on the life and reputation of the addressee of such information, regardless of the legality and reliability of such information. And even if such information is subsequently recognized as false and even removed from public access, the addressee of the information will still be associated with such information in the social consciousness.

In this context the emergence of the phenomenon of the right to be forgotten in legal reality may be considered as a step forward in the question of human privacy protection in the digital era. This study reveals how the formulated "right to be forgotten" in Article (17) of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to "online expression", i.e. content published online through social media and other forms of media. It also addresses some of the key questions raised by the article, in particular the questions of when individuals and online intermediaries may be fixed with obligations under the Regulation and who may claim the broad "journalism exemption". It also reviews the practical difficulties of thoroughly exercising this right and the difficulties posed by new technological developments.

Keywords